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Before we embarked on our journey I heard this statement from different relatives (and cab drivers) several times. I thought No way, twelve days is more than enough. My kids start to beat each other up after five! Terrible but true. We seem to have a limit to how much time we can be trapped together in one place.

Boy was I wrong. I think we could have spent an entire month in Dubai and still not seen it all. It’s packed with opportunities to sightsee, shop and entertain yourself in ways not available in other countries. After all, how many times have you skied inside a mall? How about visiting an aquarium or petting penguins . . . also inside a mall?

Because of the variety of options I highly recommend visiting a site like TripAdvisor to plan how you’ll spend your time. In some places reservations are required and are easily secured online before you go. Like the time we had tickets to go inside the Burg Al Arab. They took one look at my husband’s t-shirt and turned us away from the guard station.

So we had to watch this rich person land his helicopter from the outside.

Our family each picked a few “must do” items. On our list was: dune bashing, strolling in the Miracle Garden, petting penguins, mall shopping, skiing, riding the world’s fastest roller coaster at Ferrari World, swimming in the Gulf of Oman, seeing the fountains at Burj Khalifa and sightseeing in general.

The inside view of dune bashing.

Sunset in the desert

Twelve days was not enough.

If you enjoy people watching the place is a smorgasbord. I swear I felt like the whole world was there: Saudis, Americans, Kuwaitis, Indians, Europeans, Asians and people groups I couldn’t even identify. It was mesmerizing.

I don’t think we have this store in America.

We went during high season so if you’re not into crowds, I’d suggest going another time. But not in summer or during Ramadan (June 6 because as one Bengali cab driver told me, “You can go dancing at the club but music is not allowed.” Nor is eating or drinking during the day. So . . .yeah.

Whenever you go be aware that Dubai is a city under construction – they’re even building in the ocean. Our view was obstructed by the building of the Dubai Eye which is like the London Eye – only bigger of course. But our view from the hotel was amazing.

The view from the Amwaj Rotana in JBR

It’s fast and noisy place with few truly peaceful moments but a unique opportunity to see a city taking shape before your very eyes. We will definitely go back again . . . and again.